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Easiest way to learn PHP...need ideas/suggestions!

Hey All,

I am looking to learn PHP to further develop my career. I was/am enrolled in my local college but long story short, it is just not working out. I was curious for the opinions of you pros out there what you would suggest as the best/quickest/easiest way to learn PHP.

I have been working my way through sites like codecademy and phpacademy but I didnt know if anyone else had any suggestions.

You are enrolled in your local college and WHAT is not working out? Your PHP classes? Or your love of going to college? You ARE enrolled or you WERE enrolled - it can't be both.

I advise buckling down and staying with college. You are not just there to learn PHP or technology. It is an all-around package that makes you a more educated/learned individual that someday an employer will appreciate. Take other courses and 'improve' yourself and consider the time and work (!) a good investment in your future career/life.

Or drop out, teach yourself PHP and continue to write poorly polished English (you have tense and punctuation issues above) and be just another dime-a-dozen programmer.

As for what you have done in the direction of learning PHP - if you learned from those sites that is good. I'm not knocking them at all, but if you feel there is more to be learned then there probably is, but learning PHP alone is not an education. How will you learn to work with those who Have put in the time to get a well-rounded education when all you can speak is PHP?

Just to clarify, I have a four year degree and am currently working in the field as a web designer. I enrolled in a PHP course at my local college, but due to circumstances within the school itself, the class turned from a classroom setting to an online setting, which is completely against how I learn, I am not good at just teaching myself things from a text book or something like that, I like to be physically taught things so I can bounce questions off a professor or professional. That all said, I have removed myself from the class to save myself the $900 out of pocket, since I can teach myself from a book for free.

I was just curious for those part of this community any resources or advice on ways to go about learning/teaching myself PHP. I appreciate those who have provided feedback, I just wanted to clarify my original statement to avoid further confusion. I know how important an education is, which is why I have been to college, graduated, went back for a second degree in Web Design and Development (Online). I have figured out how I most effectively learn and online is not it. I also know I will not be a professional PHP programmer right off the bat, but I would like a foundation and something I can use in my current work position and build up from there.

I just want to grow as a professional and want to take the appropriate steps in doing so.

You really need to read your post from the perspective that we on this site have. You (not intentionally) entirely mis-represented yourself. You also did not clearly state what your 'problem' was.

That said - I don't know how one goes about 'learning' something on one's own without using a book or a reference manual which you disdain. You said that you would rather learn in a classroom scenario than from a book. Well, then that's what you apparently have to do.

You really need to read your post from the perspective that we on this site have. You (not intentionally) entirely mis-represented yourself. You also did not clearly state what your 'problem' was.

That said - I don't know how one goes about 'learning' something on one's own without using a book or a reference manual which you disdain. You said that you would rather learn in a classroom scenario than from a book. Well, then that's what you apparently have to do.

Good luck!

I guess from your perspective, you guys may get a lot of these type posts. From my perspective, I did not mean to sound stupid or silly and I get it may. I realize that a book and/or manual is important to the learning process, what I am saying is, I learn better from someone teaching me or something where I can follow along and ask questions.

Whatever, clearly I have either not expressed my situation or goal well enough or some just feel the need to be little.

To those who provided mature feedback and some form of input beyond the simple bashing, I do appreciate it and will definitely be looking into php.net

I would consider Lynda.com, that's how I learned. They use video tutorials but with exercise files to follow along. I'm not sure if they do free trials or not. But that would be my personal choice for "fast-paced learning".

I found the best way to learn was to set myself a faux project with things that a potential client may want or need.
This give you the benefit of reaching points that you can research as and when you get to those points.

people usually hit walls because they want to learn everything in one go.

I found the best way to learn was to set myself a faux project with things that a potential client may want or need.
This give you the benefit of reaching points that you can research as and when you get to those points.

While I learned from Lynda.com, i progressed by creating and upgrading my church's website with new code all the time. Which is what unasAquila is talking about, start creating a project with a sole purpose in mind, and for extra, make an admin page, then maybe build it up into a CMS...

I agree. The only way to learn to code it to write code. With that being said, it can be tough to figure out what to code, so this is where these guy's suggestions come into play. Just make up a project and start working on it. Make a website for a church, a lawyer, a small business, a small online retail business. It does not have to be a real person or company you are making it for.

As you work on your project, look around the web for things you find interesting and learn how to build that into your project.

My main concern in these sorts of threads/requests is that you not simply learn PHP syntax and usage, but actually learn programming. That is not typically easy to do via on-line tutorials targeting specific skills. The information can be found on the web, but you're probably much more likely to find it consolidated, organized, and peer-reviewed in books (and classes using such books). And don't forget database theory and implementation, as any non-trivial PHP project is almost certainly going to use a database.

FWIW, a few books that helped me in becoming a more professional programmer: